BY NATE KOTISSO | THE MONITOR
MISSION — The trouble with getting a basketball program off the ground is the inevitability of how much time the program will need to become respectable.
This has been the Sharyland Pioneer experience in its first three seasons. The Diamondbacks went 20-78 from 2014-17, which included a 5-35 mark in district competition. However, the dark days appear to ending soon, due in part to the arrival of point guard Audry Hornaday.
“It’s an extreme blessing. She does a lot on the court for us,” Sharyland Pioneer coach Nicole Villarreal said. “Her presence is very important to us.”
Hornaday’s importance can be best understood by her numbers. She is the team’s top scorer (10.0 per game), passer (5.1 assists) and defender (3.8 steals) while settling for second on the club in rebounding (5.1). She also gets to the line better than any Diamondback (348 free throw attempts) and has the club lead in 3-pointers made (23).
“I was salivating at the fact that I knew I was going to be getting her,” Villarreal said. “I’ve seen her grow as a seventh-grader, an eighth-grader and during her club seasons, as well. We knew she’d make a huge impact for us.”
Hornaday had been showcasing her talents long before her time at Pioneer and Sharyland North Junior High.
“Before seventh-grade year, I never played on a girls team before,” Hornaday said. “So when I transitioned to playing with girls, it was a lot easier, because I played with boys all my life at the Boys & Girls Club (in McAllen). Going into seventh-grade year, it was kind of a breeze.”
The 5-foot-8 guard piled up impressive numbers while still a freshman. Opponents have highlighted Hornaday as the player they must slow down. That plan has not worked of late, as she has dropped nine assists or more in six of Pioneer’s last eight games.
“I know that my coach and my teammates trust me when I have the ball in my hands,” Hornaday said. “It’s hard when two or three girls are coming up on me, but I’m out there for a reason. I need to show that even if there are three girls coming to guard me, I’m going to get around them and get my teammates the ball.”
Hornaday’s twin sister, Carly, has been front and center to her sister’s development. Carly is a 6-foot-3 center who Villarreal said is a vastly improved player for the Diamondbacks in her own right. Carly grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked five shots in Pioneer’s 42-29 win against Laredo Martin on Friday.
“Sometimes she’ll tower over me, because she’s a really great player,” Carly Hornaday said. “I’m a post, you know, so I can’t really shoot or do anything like that. But I block her shots in practice every now and then.”
The Diamondbacks entered last week 2 1/2 games outside of the fourth playoff spot in District 31-5A with three district games to play. Their chances were slim but manageable after Pioneer defeated Valley View, and fourth-place Laredo Cigarroa dropped one to Martin.
Pioneer then traveled to Martin, another team ahead of the Diamondbacks in the standings. They needed to steal a road game from the Tigers on Friday night, and they succeeded. Pioneer still needed Roma to upset Cigarroa to keep playoff hopes alive. Cigarroa defeated Roma by 20, ending the Diamondbacks’ dreams of a first-ever playoff berth.
Villarreal broke the news to her team Saturday morning.
“We were disappointed,” Hornaday said. “We worked so hard to come back and try and get that spot, but sadly, we didn’t. I wanted this to be for our seniors, knowing it’s their last season and their last chance at getting to the playoffs. We were close, but we didn’t make it.”
Despite missing the playoffs, the Diamondbacks won 17 games this season, setting a new school record. Pioneer’s seven district wins are also a new record.
“What hurt us was losing games that we should have taken care of in the first round,” Villarreal said. “I tell the girls, ‘We’re losing the games, but not the lessons that come along with it.’ We learned from those lessons with our play in the second round. I know they don’t want to be in a position like this again. It’s a blessing in disguise.”